Mold complaint prompts inspection at school

[Guest guest]

January 18, 2006

Mold complaint prompts inspection at school

http://sundaygazettemail.com/section/News/Other%20News/200601178

By Eyre

Staff writer

WV

Health and education officials inspected a Point Harmony Elementary

School portable classroom Tuesday after a teacher complained about

mold at the school.

Second grade teacher ann Nichols alleges that she and some

students have a difficult time breathing in the classroom. Students

also have experienced dizziness, headaches and unexplained

nosebleeds, according to a teachers' union official.

" I've been sick for a year, " Nichols said Tuesday. " It's a mold

issue. There's white stuff growing in the grooves. I'm disgusted

with it all. "

- advertisement -

Parents met with inspectors from the Kanawha-ton Health

Department and state Department of Education at the Cross Lanes

school Tuesday.

" I was in that classroom for 15 minutes, and after 25 minutes, I

could feel a tightness in my chest, " said Nick Roberson, a West

Virginia Education Association official who represents Nichols. " The

county has been dragging its heels in realizing there is a problem

and doing something about it. "

Kanawha County school board members plan to discuss the matter at a

meeting Thursday.

Kanawha County Schools Maintenance Director Terry Hollandsworth said

school officials are taking the allegations seriously.

A Department of Education air-quality team already has inspected the

portable classroom and recommended changes. The inspectors found

higher-than-normal levels of carbon dioxide. No mold was found,

however.

Maintenance workers have scrubbed the classroom and installed a new

water heater, Hollandsworth said.

School officials also have hired a company to test the classroom for

mold. The test results are expected by the end of this week or early

next week.

" We don't want children to be in a bad situation, " Hollandsworth

said. " If we find mold, we will get it cleaned up. "

Roberson said Nichols has complained about mold in the classroom for

nearly a year. Parents have been asking the county to remove the

portables during the past several years.

" She wants to see the problem resolved for herself and her

students, " Roberson said.

Kanawha school officials said Nichols declined to move to a

classroom inside the school after being offered a reading specialist

job.

To contact staff writer Eyre, use e-mail or call 348-4869.